Few engine displacements have earned a reputation quite like the 350 cubic-inch V8. In the golden age of Detroit muscle, two General Motors Brands – Chevrolet and Pontiac – both rolled out their own versions of the 350, which went on to power some of the brand's most iconic muscle cars. But despite sharing the same badge on paper, these two small blocks couldn’t be more different.
The Chevy 350 became the go-to workhorse and hot-rodding legend, while the Pontiac 350 carved out its own niche with a totally different architecture and philosophy. Here's how they compared and what made them so different.
The Chevy 350 And Pontiac 350 Have Almost No Interchangeable Parts
Chevy 350 Small-Block V8 Engine
Chevy 350 Small-Block V8 Engine
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The most important thing you need to know about the Chevrolet 350 and the Pontiac 350 is that they're both completely different engines. They have almost no interchangeable parts between them. They may be similar in capacity and may both be General Motors engines, but that's where the similarities end.
Two Different Approaches To The Legendary 350 V8
1968 Pontiac Firebird 350 HO V8 top
1968 Pontiac Firebird 350 HO V8 top under hood
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For a start, both engines used slightly different materials. While both of them had a cast-iron block, later versions of the Chevrolet 350 V8 used aluminum for certain components. The LT5 version of the engine developed for the C4-generation Chevrolet Corvette ZR1 was also all-aluminum.
Beyond that, their internal designs are also completely different in every way. Not only are their blocks completely different sizes (we'll get into that later), but they also have completely different head designs. Their crankshafts, pistons, and connecting rods are also different.
The Pontiac 350 has a heavier crankshaft than the Chevrolet 350, and its pistons and connecting rods are bigger. When you realize that, it makes sense that both engines are almost completely incompatible with each other, despite being from two different brands of the same manufacturer.
They're So Different Because of General Motors' History
1969 Pontiac Firebird 350 Coupe - Front Quarter
Front-left quarter view of a 1969 Pontiac Firebird 350 Coupe
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Why are these two similarly-sized engines so different? Well, it goes all the way back to the formation of General Motors in the first place. Chevrolet and Pontiac were originally founded as independent automakers and were only bought out by GM later. Pontiac was bought out in 1909, very quickly after it was formed (under the name Oakland – Pontiac was originally the name of a sub-brand of Oakland) in 1907. Chevrolet, meanwhile, took a little longer to be acquired by the American automotive juggernaut. Chevrolet was formed in 1911, and it took until 1918 for GM to get its hands on it.
As an artifact of all these different GM brands originally being different companies, GM was fairly hands-off with how they developed for a long time. That included engine development. That led to Chevrolet and Pontiac both developing incredibly different engines that slotted into the same size range and similar markets.
Same Displacement, Completely Different Blocks
1969 Pontiac Firedbird 350
1969 Pontiac Firedbird 350
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One of the biggest differences between the Chevrolet 350 and the Pontiac 350 was that they had completely different block sizes. The Chevrolet 350 was a derivative of the small-block V8 that Chevrolet had been developing over a long period of time. These were smaller, leaner engines that were more efficient. That's shown in its bore and stroke measurements – the Chevy 350 has a 4" bore and a 3.48" stroke.
The Pontiac 350, meanwhile, had a bigger engine block that was more like what other manufacturers would have called a big-block engine. Yet it was neither a big nor a small block, but its own unique design. Its bore is shorter than the Chevy 350's at 3.875", while its stroke is longer at 3.75". This meant it had characteristics that were more similar to like the massive 7+ liter engines found in various top-of-the-line muscle cars and luxury sedans of the '60s and '70s.
One Was More About Power, The Other Was More About Torque
Chevrolet Camaro RS SS 350 - Front 3_4 angle
1967 Chevrolet Camaro RS SS 350 - Front 3_4 angle in white.
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As a consequence of both engines having completely different characteristics, they both had a very different feel to them. Because the Chevrolet 350 is a leaner, small-block style engine, it's balanced more towards power. The smaller block and shorter stroke mean that the Chevy could rev higher, giving it a racier feel.
The Pontiac 350, on the other hand, is more of a torque monster. That's thanks to its big-block style characteristics of having a bigger engine block and a longer stroke.
The Chevrolet 350's Nature Was Great For Sporty Models
1969 Chevrolet Nova
1969 Chevrolet Nova
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The Chevrolet 350's higher-revving, less torque delivery made it a fantastic choice for various Chevrolet sports cars and muscle cars over the years. Multiple generations of the Chevrolet Camaro had the 350 as an engine option, as did versions of the Corvette, the Chevelle SS, and the Nova SS.
The Corvette, especially, wouldn't be the car it ended up becoming without that higher-revving, more power-focused nature the Chevrolet 350 had over its production run. It was supposed to be a proper sports car instead of a muscle car, and the 350 allowed it to have the kind of engine performance that could rival its more sophisticated European rivals.
The Pontiac 350 Powered Legendary Sporty Models Too
The Chevrolet 350 didn't entirely rule the roost, though, when it came to high-performance cars in the golden age of the American V8. The Pontiac 350 got its day in the spotlight, too! It was the engine of choice for several of the higher-performance versions of the Pontiac Firebird in the 1960s and 1970s. It was also an engine option in the third-generation Pontiac Tempest and the fourth-generation Pontiac GTO. While the fourth-generation GTO and third-generation Tempest could be considered as being versions that were past their prime, the '60s and '70s Firebirds are still incredibly venerated today as being some of the best sports cars of their generation.
Pontiac Abandoned The 350 For Bigger Engines – Chevrolet Kept The 350 Going
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Perhaps another one of the biggest differences between the Chevrolet 350 and the Pontiac 350 is that the Chevrolet 350 actually kept on going past its heyday. Pontiac ended up abandoning the 350 in the end, with production finishing in 1979. It favoured bigger and bigger engines based on that original block, and the 350 ended up being eclipsed by those bigger engines. Meanwhile, the Chevrolet 350 kept on going, lasting right up until 2002.
The Pontiac 350 not lasting beyond the muscle car heyday actually makes a lot of sense when you consider that it was essentially a big-block engine. It made a lot more sense for Pontiac to make that original design into bigger engines, leaning into the big-block feel. Big-block engines also started falling out of favour as emissions regulations marched on and engines started becoming more efficient.
Meanwhile, the Chevrolet 350 was one of the bigger sizes of a small block engine. As a result of its more small-block characteristics, it was a lot more suitable for future generations of V8 performance cars, as well as utility vehicles. In fact, one of the final production vehicles the original 350 V8 was put in was the 2002 model year Chevrolet Express/GMC Savana. This is a full-size van that's still produced today, and the GMC version is often ranked among the best vehicles GMC has ever made!
The Chevrolet 350's Spirit Still Lives On
Chevy LS3 Crate Engine-1
imagge of a Chevy Crte Engine
Chevrolet
While the original Chevrolet small-block engine is no more, its spirit definitely still exists today. The more modern Chevrolet LS V8s are very much modelled after those original small-block engines, and they definitely owe a lot of their nature to the 350. One of the sizes originally offered with the LS engine was 5.7 liters (similar to the 350 ci size of the Chevrolet 350), and the first car it was used in was the C5-generation of the Chevrolet Corvette (one of the cars that used the original 350 V8 as an engine option for many years). It also found its way into the fourth generation of the Chevrolet Camaro (another Chevrolet 350 mainstay).
Sources: Chevrolet, Pontiac.